by Elena Rybakina landed her first WTA 1000 tournament on clay on an ill-fated night in Rome. A match that was delayed by more than four hours due to heavy rain, was cut short into the second set as Anhelina Kalinina was forced to retire through injury.
How it Unfolded
It was Anhelina Kalinina that came out firing on all cylinders, breaking Elena Rybakina in the opening game, before extending the lead with a hold of her own. However, the Wimbledon champion got herself on the scoreboard in her next service game, with a hold to love. She hunted the break in Kalinina’s second service game but could not convert break points and ultimately the Ukrainian held.
However, the world number six was determined in her pursuit and broke back to get to 3-3. At this point, Elena Rybakina’s first serve was hitting the levels that many have come to expect from the player with the most aces on the WTA tour, a tally that now reaches 278 for the year. She kept pressure on Kalinina’s serve and though the Ukrainian held to get to 4-4, Rybakina backed up her hold with a break to close out the first set at 4-6.
Elena Rybakina opened the second set with an unthreatened hold. However, unfortunately, the story of the set did not develop further as Kalinina called it a match soon after calling for a medical timeout.
An Appalling Presentation
The match had been ill-fated from the start, having been postponed by more than four hours due to rain delays which affected the men’s semi-final between Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas (with Medvedev taking it in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5). However, despite this, both players demonstrated professionalism and were on the court at 11 pm to start the game in a largely empty stadium. Despite this, those present were vocal in their support during and following the match.
Sadly, the trophy presentation was handled poorly by the organizers. Elena Rybakina was called up first by mistake and was almost awarded the runners-up trophy before the organizers caught on as she eyed them awkwardly desperate for someone to realise the error. It was hastily recovered by the presenter who conducted the on-court interview.
Things took a turn for the worse when following asking Anhelina Kalinina to join the presentation ceremony and her emotional runners-up speech, the presenter forgot that the winner, Elena Rybakina, had not yet been presented with the trophy and instead pointed to the players to take the pictures. By the time Elena Rybakina received the trophy the crowd voiced its dismay at the debacle of a ceremony loud and clear, despite the presenter still thinking it was aimed at the players. The Mutua Madrid Open got plenty of stick for not giving Women’s Double’s players a chance for a post-match speech. The organisers of the Internazionali BNL D’Italia are not likely to get off easy following this mess either.
A Warm Embrace
The players shared a warm embrace as Anhelina Kalinina informed her opponent of abandoning the match through injury. In her speech, the weary-looking Anhelina Kalinina, congratulated Rybakina and her team on the continued success since taking the Wimbledon title last year, whilst recognizing her own team’s continued support. The Ukrainian delivered also voiced appreciation for the support given to the Ukrainian athletes by the Italian crowd.
Classy as always, Elena Rybakina wished a speedy recovery to Anhelina Kalinina and congratulated her team on the achievement of reaching the final. The winner also thanked those present in support at the late hour, “Thanks to the crowd everybody who stayed and watched until the end, it was not easy for us but also for you, all of these rain delays. So thank you for your support.”
The victory marks Elena Rybakina’s second WTA 1000 title this year and her first major tournament on clay. She will break into the Top 5 ahead of the start of the Roland Garros, where she will eye a deep run into the tournament to close the gap to front runners Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka.
Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography
